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Wait, This Is Janis Ian From Mean Girls?!

Why, yes it is! But while Lizzy Caplan, 31, has made a career out of sidekick sarcasm in parts like that, she’s front and center, fearless—and naked—as pioneering 1950s sex researcher Virginia Johnson in Showtime’s provocative new drama Masters of Sex. Caplan tells Glamour about sleeping with married men (on the show!) and finding her own personal style.

Glamour: In the name of scientific research, your Masters character beds a married man, her research partner, Dr. William Masters. So ?Lizzy Caplan: One of the fascinating parts of the story is the friendship between myself and his wife. Masters and Johnson were really skilled at compartmentalizing—in the name of science. My character was sleeping with him for years. [The real Masters and Johnson eventually married in 1971.]

Glamour: You were all supermodel-like at our photo shoot. What’s your style like in real life?LC: When I was a young girl, I never had that fantasy of wanting to dress up in glamorous gowns. I’ve always been a tomboy. I’m still waiting for the moment I get sucked into fashion. I think eventually I’ll blossom into this person who gives a sh-t.

Glamour: We will always love you as Janis inMean Girls. When’s the last time you watched it?LC: I tried to see it with somebody a year or two ago. I don’t find rewatching my awkward years to be a particularly relaxing experience!